The 2018 Rose of Tralee has slammed a radio presenter for making "nasty" comments about the festival.

Last year's Waterford Rose and overall winner Kirsten Mate Maher was responding to remarks made by Newstalk presenter Susan Keogh that the contest was not "diverse" enough.

Speaking during a broadcast on Monday, Ms Keogh said: "Where is the body diversity, where are the fat Roses?”

“Where’s the socio-economic diversity? Where are the Roses from different kinds of backgrounds and different complicated family backgrounds? Where is the Rose from the Travelling community or the Homeless Rose? Or the Rose who lives in direct provision?

"Where are the women who don’t have the degrees or the PhDs?”

“Where are the women who don’t like to just smile and agree when someone says something?”

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Ms Keogh also said she disagreed with Daithi O'Se's view that the Rose of Tralee was empowering.

But Ms Mater Maher, 22, defended the competition, saying the presenter had clearly not watched this year's show.

She said: "She clearly hasn’t turned on the TV, there are families from all over the world here. The Cork Rose’s mam is Emirati. You have different backgrounds and she obviously didn’t turn on the television.”

"I think it is really nasty to be honest, especially when she brought up the degree thing and the size thing. There are girls of all shapes and sizes, as you can see clearly if you watched it on television".

"You can't argue with an idiot," she added.

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Kirsten went on to say that she does not have a degree and hasn't found her career path in life yet.

Speaking during interviews at the festival, she said: “And then with the degree thing... I don’t have a degree, I haven’t set foot in college yet. I don’t have a career yet, I haven’t figured out where I am going in life yet."

Ms Keogh later shared her own response on Twitter, saying: "The current #RoseOfTralee described me as an ignorant, uneducated, nasty, attention seeker.